Hydraulic balance damper



April 3, 1962 c. A. MCCOWN HYDRAULIC BALANCE DAMPER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1958 INVENTOR. CLAUDE A M Cowu WWW; XM 9 ATTORNEYS April 3, 1962 I c. A. McCOWN 3,027,955

HYDRAULIC BALANCE DAMPER Filed June 13, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 P1 6-. '5 F 1 G INVENTOR. C LAuoE A. M COWN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,027,955 HYDRAULIC BALANCE DAMPER Claude Alvin McCown, Dallas, Tex. (Rte. 1, Grapevine, Tex.)

Filed June 13, 1958, Ser. No. 741,864 2 Claims. (Cl. 177-184) This invention pertains to a hydraulic damper for use on a beam type balance.

A primary objective is the provision of a hydraulic damper to be mounted on a balance utilized in weighing gun powder or bullets. Balances of this type are essential to the process of hand loading ammunition, and are extremely useful because the damper eliminates, to a great extent, the up and down or hunting motion of the lever beam of deliciate balance, thus speeding the weighing process.

The instant invention comprehends a hydraulic balance damper constructed either integrally with the balance, or as a readily removable attachment thereto.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a balance damper of the class described which is readily attachable to conventional bullet and powder balances without any alterations thereto.

A further objective is the provision of a balance damper of the class described supra, the balance damper being non-complex in construction and assembly, inexpensive to manufacture and durable in use.

Other and further objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from a consideration of the following specification when read in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bullet or powder balance having a hydraulic damper mounted thereon, constructed and assembled in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary top elevational view of the balance shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary detail cross-sectional view partly in elevation, this view being taken substantially along the horizontal plane of the line 33 of FIGURE 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary detail cross-sectional front elevational view taken substantially along the line 44 of FIGURE 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the damper paddle member and a fragment of the beam and pivot point of the balance; and,

FIGURE 6 is an exploded perspective view of the reser voir forming a part of this attachment and a fragment of the balance support member whereon the reservoirs are mounted.

Proceeding now to relate the several figures of the drawings to a more specific description of one embodiment of this invention, reference numeral 10 is applied to a powder or bullet balance in general. The balance 10 comprises a base member 12, and upright holder member 14 for the indicia plate 16, and an elongated lever beam 18 pivotally supported intermediate its ends at the pivot base 20. Releasably secured to one end of the lever beam 18 is the powder or bullet receptacle assembly 22.

The pivot base 20 comprises a pair of truncated sub stantially pyramidal pivot standards 24, 26 having their bases fixedly secured to the base 12 of the scale 10. The standards 24, 26 are spaced from one another by an integral, substantially rectangular block 28 having a rounded upper end 30. The upper end of the standards 24, 26 have substantially triangular, coaxial grooves 32, 34 formed therein for the purpose of providing a support for a substantially cylindrical transverse pivot bar 36 extending through the lever beam 18. The stability ice of the pivot bar is insured by the placing of bearing plates 38, 40 on the outer sides of the standards 24, 26, the bearing plates 38, 40 serving as end stops for the grooves 32, 34.

The hydraulic damper means are identified in general by reference numeral 42 and comprise a pair of substantially rectangular reservoirs 44, 46 having open ends 48, 50, respectively-the reservoirs 44, 46 being interconnected by an arcuate band 52 formed integrally therewith adjacent the open ends 48, 50. As best illustrated in FIGURES 3 through 6, inclusive, the band 52 is adapted to be fitted over the rounded upper end 30 of the block 28 with the adjacent sides of the reservoirs 44, 46 resting against the remote sides of the standards 24, 26.

The other major portion of the damper means 42 is the paddle assembly 54 thereof, best shown in FIGURE 5. The assembly 54 is secured to the lever beam 18 subjacent the pivot bar 36 by an elongated, substantially U-shaped clamp 56 having a substantially rectangular base 58 and a pair of substantially rectangular arms 60, 62 perpendicular thereto. The connection of the clamp 56 to the beam 18 may be by way of a press fit or any other suitable means.

The base 53 has a pair of substantially rectangular legs 64, 66 depending perpendicularly therefrom. The legs 64, 66 are integrally connected to substantially flat, triangular support members 68, 70-the triangular members being substantially parallel to the base 58. Depending perpendicularly from the members 68, 70 are the substantially rectangular paddles 72, 74 which are seen to be of such dimension that they may be freely pivoted when suspended in the reservoirs 44, 46.

As seen in FIGURE 5, the O 76, or balance point, of the lever beam 18 is substantially at the midpoint of the clamp 56. Thus, it is seen that movement of each of the paddle members 72, 74 is substantially identical when the beam 18 is pivoted.

The device 42 is mounted on a conventional balance 10 in the following manner: The lever beam 18 and receptacle assembly 22 are removed and the reservoirs 44, 46 placed in the position described above. Then, the paddle assembly 54 is secured to the lever beam 18 and the beam 18 returned to its operative position. The reservoirs 44, 46 are then supplied with a liquid 78, preferably one of high viscosity such as oil or the like, and the lever beam 18 is then replaced in its operative position, thus causing the paddle 72 to be suspended in the reservoir 44 and the paddle 74 to be suspended in the reservoir 46.

The resistance of the liquid 78 to the movement of the paddles 72, 74 retards the pivotal movement of the lever beam 18 and thereby accomplishes the stated object of limiting the hunting motion of the beam 18.

As is readily seen from the above description of the construction and operation of this device, the hydraulic damper means 42 can be quickly and easily dismounted from the balance 10.

Having thus described and illustrated a single embodiment of this invention in somewhat exact detail, it will be clearly understood that this embodiment has been offered merely by way of illustration and that this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a balance having a base member, an upright holder for an indicia plate, an elongated lever beam including a pivot point, a pivot base having a pair of pyramidal standards and a supporting block between said standards; hydraulic damper means comprising a pair of substantially rectangular reservoirs, each having an open end, an arcuate band formed integral with said reservoirs and extending between said open ends thereof, said arcuate band being engaged upon said supporting block thereby to support said reservoirs o-n opposite sides thereof, said reservoirs being substantially filled with a viscous fluid, paddle means comprising a U-shaped clamp secured to said lever beam adjacent the pivot point thereof, a pair of substantially rectangular iegs depending perpendicularly from said U-shaped clamp, 21 trapezoidal member extending outwardly from each of said legs perpendicular thereto, and a substantially rectangular paddle depending from each of said triangle members and suspended in said fluid of said reservoirs on opposite sides of the pivot point.

2. The combination, with a balance which includes a base member, an elongated lever beam, and a pivot base for said lever beam, said pivot base including an areuate, transverse supporting block, the lever beam being mounted for movement about a pivot means above said block, of an hydraulic damper means which comprises; a pair of hollow reservoir members each including an open end and being adapted to contain a fluid, an arcuate band secured between said reservoir members, said arcuate band being engaged upon said supporting block thereby to support said reservoir members on opposite sides thereof, and a paddle means assembly depending from said lever beam and including a paddle element suspended in each of said reservoir members on opposite sides of the pivot means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,211,881 Rushton Jan. '9, 1917 1,495,559 Longue May 27, 1924 2,861,846 Webster Nov. 25, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 216,655 Great Britain June 5, 1924 220,123 Great Britain Aug. 14, 1924 397,522 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1933 

